Written Answers Monday 17 March 2008

Scottish Executive

Blood Transfusion Service

Nigel Don (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many pints of blood have been donated in each NHS board area in each year since 1999, also broken down by blood group.

Shona Robison: The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service collates data from the five blood donation centres in Scotland. The following table sets out the number of units of blood collected by each centre between 1999 and 2007.

  

 
 Year
 O+
 A+
 B+
 AB+
 O-
 A-
 B-
 AB-


Aberdeen
 1999
 11,655
 7,512
 2,382
 726
 3,168
 1,926
 584
 185


 
 2000
 12,609
 8,417
 2,652
 783
 3,279
 2,131
 701
 206


 
 2001
 13,652
 8,820
 2,700
 827
 3,727
 2,245
 719
 170


 
 2002
 13,430
 8,576
 2,565
 754
 3,597
 2,183
 654
 173


 
 2003
 13,628
 8,948
 2,618
 802
 3,807
 2,230
 654
 187


 
 2004
 13,538
 8,935
 2,554
 748
 3,747
 2,302
 670
 180


 
 2005
 12,397
 8,344
 2,427
 731
 3,490
 2,086
 652
 181


 
 2006
 11,129
 7,355
 1,964
 608
 2,988
 1,890
 596
 137


 
 2007
 10,627
 7,024
 1,932
 573
 2,952
 1,860
 579
 155


 Dundee
 1999
 10,778
 7,423
 2,209
 673
 2,836
 1,694
 548
 187


 
 2000
 11,113
 7,499
 2,230
 763
 2,910
 1,788
 530
 167


 
 2001
 10,643
 7,486
 2,183
 753
 2,954
 1,746
 573
 184


 
 2002
 10,604
 7,383
 2,111
 722
 2,821
 1,762
 519
 173


 
 2003
 10,673
 7,543
 2,227
 716
 2,994
 1,739
 503
 177


 
 2004
 11,250
 7,948
 2,393
 748
 3,076
 1,832
 534
 193


 
 2005
 9,954
 6,861
 2,061
 658
 2,864
 1,631
 532
 149


 
 2006
 9,827
 6,763
 1,936
 655
 2,682
 1,547
 538
 145


 
 2007
 9,419
 6,398
 1,907
 642
 2,569
 1,446
 499
 133


 Edinburgh
 1999
 30,236
 20,188
 6,063
 1,789
 7,921
 4,834
 1478
 431


 
 2000
 31,060
 20,745
 6,307
 1,840
 8,105
 5,166
 1504
 450


 
 2001
 29,766
 19,568
 6,018
 1,769
 7,860
 4,779
 1453
 416


 
 2002
 28,888
 19,177
 5,885
 1,752
 7,489
 4,643
 1411
 395


 
 2003
 28,469
 19,527
 6,050
 1,817
 7,993
 4,694
 1461
 394


 
 2004
 29,773
 20,328
 6,504
 1,961
 8,382
 4,979
 1503
 439


 
 2005
 26,712
 18,258
 5,911
 1,714
 7,740
 4,642
 1516
 379


 
 2006
 25,188
 17,213
 5,383
 1,595
 6,899
 4,392
 1383
 355


 
 2007
 30,236
 20,188
 6,063
 1,789
 7,921
 4,834
 1478
 431


 Glasgow
 1999
 54,877
 32,889
 10,869
 3,115
 15,698
 7,982
 2752
 830


 
 2000
 53,827
 32,318
 10,889
 3,180
 16,330
 7,972
 2719
 837


 
 2001
 52,154
 31,130
 10,326
 2,985
 16,077
 7,818
 2524
 799


 
 2002
 49,927
 29,926
 10,086
 2,730
 15,448
 7,327
 2615
 736


 
 2003
 48,774
 29,960
 9,861
 2,745
 15,668
 7,519
 2636
 769


 
 2004
 49,139
 30,927
 10,141
 2,931
 15,888
 7,665
 2726
 736


 
 2005
 43,392
 27,093
 9,100
 2,646
 14,592
 6,960
 2591
 672


 
 2006
 42,074
 26,100
 8,604
 2,383
 13,909
 6,697
 2314
 634


 
 2007
 41,153
 25,287
 8,524
 2,292
 13,441
 7,019
 2367
 617


 Inverness
 1999
 8,000
 4,882
 1,703
 560
 2,257
 1,287
 387
 1,740


 
 2000
 7,827
 4,881
 1,718
 532
 2,301
 1,200
 357
 1,761


 
 2001
 8,008
 4,889
 1,684
 515
 2,396
 1,232
 346
 1,679


 
 2002
 8,518
 4,973
 1,736
 554
 2,471
 1,212
 370
 1,576


 
 2003
 8,985
 5,482
 1,824
 588
 2,693
 1,345
 394
 1,635


 
 2004
 9,337
 5,852
 1,980
 648
 2,651
 1,428
 434
 1,689


 
 2005
 8,477
 5,450
 1,745
 589
 2,502
 1,324
 411
 1,484


 
 2006
 8,246
 5,275
 1,672
 551
 2,305
 1,252
 409
 1,364


 
 2007
 7,710
 5,017
 1,662
 506
 2,292
 1,244
 404
 1,426

Blood Transfusion Service

Nigel Don (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any concerns about a shortfall in blood donations from any specific blood group.

Shona Robison: A particular challenge for the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service is sustaining a sufficient supply of rhesus negative blood groups given the population profile for this type of blood.

Blood Transfusion Service

Nigel Don (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to make blood donation more accessible to those who live in remote areas.

Shona Robison: The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) holds up to 3,000 sessions each year throughout Scotland, visiting in excess of 700 locations including towns, workplaces and educational establishments.

  Where SNBTS can reliably collect a minimum of 50 donations, it tries to visit rural communities at least once each year, although where travel distances are extreme, this is not always viable on economic grounds.

  As part of its strategic review, SNBTS is considering new ways to collect blood from smaller, more distant, communities without compromising existing, higher volume and reliable, collection venues.

Drug Misuse

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to issue new guidance on the provision of needle exchanges, following the publication of the Substance Misuse Research report and survey, Needle Exchange Provision in Scotland .

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to issue new guidance on standards for the provision of drug users’ paraphernalia, following the publication of the Substance Misuse Research report and survey, Needle Exchange Provision in Scotland .

Shona Robison: As part of our consideration of the actions in the Hepatitis C Action Plan for Scotland: Phase II, we will consider whether to establish a working group to develop guidelines for services that provide injecting equipment to injecting drug users. We would expect any working group to look at the provision of needles, syringes and other drug related paraphernalia used by drug users.

Drug Misuse

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had discussions with Scottish Training on Drugs and Alcohol about providing training for those working in needle exchanges, following the publication of the Substance Misuse Research report and survey, Needle Exchange Provision in Scotland .

Shona Robison: Officials in the Scottish Government’s Public Health and Wellbeing Directorate have had discussions with Scottish Training on Drugs and Alcohol (STRADA) about providing training for people working in needle exchanges. STRADA have recently developed a needle exchange module aimed at a wide range of non-pharmacy needle exchange staff which could be adapted to meet the needs of pharmacy and specialist needle exchange staff.

Local Government Finance

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local authority spent on education in (a) 2002, (b) 2003, (c) 2004, (d) 2005, (e) 2006 and (f) 2007, shown also as a percentage of its total budget.

John Swinney: The information requested is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 45108).

Local Government Finance

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local authority spent on social work in (a) 2002, (b) 2003, (c) 2004, (d) 2005, (e) 2006 and (f) 2007, shown also as a percentage of its total budget.

John Swinney: The information requested is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 45109).

Local Government Finance

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local authority spent on housing in (a) 2002, (b) 2003, (c) 2004, (d) 2005, (e) 2006 and (f) 2007, shown also as a percentage of its total budget.

John Swinney: The information requested is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 45110).

Local Government Finance

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local authority spent on police, fire and valuation boards in (a) 2002, (b) 2003, (c) 2004, (d) 2005, (e) 2006 and (f) 2007, shown also as a percentage of each local authority’s total budget.

John Swinney: The information requested is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 45111).

  The expenditure has been apportioned to councils by the amount that the police, fire and valuation joint boards requisition from them. Valuation joint boards’ expenditure comprises registration of electors, council tax valuation and non-domestic valuation.

Local Government Finance

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local authority spent on cultural and related services in (a) 2002, (b) 2003, (c) 2004, (d) 2005, (e) 2006 and (f) 2007, shown also as a percentage of its total budget.

John Swinney: The information requested is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 45112).

Local Government Finance

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local authority spent on roads and transport in (a) 2002, (b) 2003, (c) 2004, (d) 2005, (e) 2006 and (f) 2007, shown also as a percentage of its total budget.

John Swinney: The information requested is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 45113).

Local Government Finance

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding was spent by each local authority on leisure facilities during (a) 2002-03, (b) 2003-04, (c) 2004-05, (d) 2005-06, (e) 2006-07 and (f) 2007-08.

John Swinney: The information requested is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 45114).

  Local authorities do not report expenditure on leisure facilities. The table contains local authorities’ expenditure on recreation and sport.

Mental Health

Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are prescribed antidepressants for mild depression and what procedures there are for prescribing these drugs.

Shona Robison: It is not possible to provide this information. Prescription data collected centrally does not relate to the number of patients receiving treatment but to the numbers and cost of prescribed items dispensed in the community by community pharmacists and dispensing doctors. In addition, the prescription form does not specify the condition for which a particular medicine was prescribed.

  Ultimately the decision whether or not to prescribe a medicine for a patient is a matter for the clinical judgement of the prescriber, informed by advice and evidence about the medicine.

Mental Health

Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has conducted or commissioned a study comparing the cost-effectiveness of generic psychological therapy against routinely prescribed antidepressant drugs.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government has not conducted or commissioned any studies comparing the cost effectiveness of generic psychological therapy against routinely prescribed antidepressant drugs.

  The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) within the Scottish Government has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health and health care needs in Scotland. The CSO does not normally commission research but supports research projects of a sufficiently high standard initiated by the research community in Scotland. This role is well known and advertised throughout the health care and academic community.

  The CSO is aware that a number of studies in this area have been carried out. Details of some of these studies can be found in the Cochrane Library on the Cochrane Collaboration website www.cochrane.org/. The CSO would welcome further research proposals in this area which would be subject to the usual peer and committee review.

Mental Health

Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has conducted or commissioned a study in to whether people would prefer NHS counselling instead of being prescribed antidepressants for the treatment of mild to moderate depression.

Shona Robison: There is a range of evidence supporting the important contribution that counselling and other psychological therapies can have in responding to those with depression including the 2006 national evaluation of the Doing Well by People with Depression programme.

  We are committed to improving access to evidence based psychological therapies and are working with partners to increase the number of staff capacity within the current workforce trained to deliver therapies and support change.

  We have also published standards for an integrated care pathway for those with depression which covers all aspects of care from assessment to recovery. This standard fits with advice from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE). NHS Scotland follow evidence based guidelines on treating depression.

  The NICE guidelines provide a structured approach to the accurate identification of people with depression and anxiety which recommends against prescribing antidepressants for initial treatment of mild depression given the poor the risk-benefit ratio. Health care professionals are also advised to consider general advice or recommending guided self help based on cognitive behaviour therapy or short term psychological treatment, problem solving therapies or counselling.

Planning

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how, in the context of paragraphs 6.7 to 6.12 of the Scottish Ministerial Code, the Minister for Community Safety differentiated between the interests of two competing developers in Aviemore.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether a minister meeting one developer to the exclusion of another in the minister’s constituency and then supporting that planning application to the detriment of the other developer constitutes a breach of paragraph 6.11 of the Scottish Ministerial Code.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether a minister attending a meeting to consider a live planning application with the planning authority in the company of the convener of another planning authority about to call-in that application, if that minister did not also seek to meet other developers or objectors with an interest in the decision, constitutes a breach of paragraphs 6.11 and 6.12 of the Scottish Ministerial Code.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether a minister seeking to accelerate or facilitate a live planning application without a satisfactory flood risk assessment and without speaking to objectors to that application constitutes a breach of the paragraph 6.11 and 6.12 of the Scottish Ministerial Code.

Michael Russell: The Scottish Government has provided a full and frank account of why ministers considered it important, following representations made by a cross-party group of MSPs and others, including the constituency member, to check that there was no failure of due process in relation to this application and actions undertaken as a result. If any member wishes to raise issues in relation to ministers’ actions in the context of the Scottish Ministerial Code, he or she should write to the First Minister.

Planning

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether ministers take into account whether developers have donated money to their campaign or political party when choosing to publicly support a planning application.

Michael Russell: No.

Planning

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether ministers are debarred from taking an active part in supporting a live planning application to the potential exclusion of another developer when the former has donated money to their campaign or political party.

Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answers to questions S3W-10663 and S3W-10664 on 17 March 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Scottish Environment Protection Agency

Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what new powers it has recently given, or expects to give, to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Richard Lochhead: The powers and functions of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) were established by the Environment Act 1995. Other subsequent legislation has given SEPA additional powers or functions to regulate activities with an impact on the environment in a range of areas. The Scottish Government keeps the powers of SEPA under review, in order to ensure they are sufficient to prevent harm to the environment.

Sexual Health

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken, or will take, to review the three-year Respect and Responsibility sex education programme.

Shona Robison: In summer 2007 the Scottish Government commissioned a stock-taking review of Respect and Responsibility, Scotland’s sexual health strategy. The review of how Respect and Responsibility has been implemented thus far and to identify any gaps in implementation has considered evidence from over 250 individuals and organisations. The review has been undertaken by a team from the universities of Abertay and Dundee and is due to report in April 2008.

Smoking

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many retailers have been prosecuted for selling tobacco products to underage customers in each year since 2005, broken down by local authority area and showing the fines issued in each case.

Kenny MacAskill: In 2005-06, the latest year for which data is available from the Scottish Government court proceedings database, there were two persons with a charge proved in Scottish courts for selling tobacco to underage customers. The sentences were fines of £100 in East Lothian and £165 in West Lothian.

Smoking

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many retailers have on more than one occasion been (a) warned and (b) prosecuted for selling tobacco products to underage customers in each year since 2005, broken down by local authority area.

Kenny MacAskill: Data on the number of warnings issued by trading standards is not held by the Scottish Government.

  In 2005-06, the latest year for which data is available from the Scottish Government court proceedings database, no persons were prosecuted in Scottish courts more than once for selling tobacco to underage customers.